Units of History - The Exploratores: Scouts of the Roman Army DOCUMENTARY

We continue to look at the most famous units of history from across ancient history. While previous episodes have focused on the combat roles of units like the Spartan Royal Guard or the Immortals, in this episode we look at the critical role a unit could play in the intelligence game.

The documentary begins with the early history of Rome and the relatively low level of its scouting needs whilst in familiar territory. However we show that as it expanded across Italy and in particular abroad, it quickly realized that a more robust system of scouting had to be established. What emerged was the Procursatores, a close screen of cavalry who fanned out ahead of the legions of Rome. We discuss the role of these troops when it comes to patrolling, pathfinding, and foraging.

However these troops could not cover all the needs of the Roman Army. What soon developed was another group of further range scouts and disruptors known as the Exploratores. We cover how they were used to report on the enemy, locate Roman army camps, and perform operations behind enemy lines.

Stay tuned for our next episode where we will discuss the spies and Speculatores who further added to Rome's impressive intelligence network that helped the Roman Legions become so successful. What Units of History do you want to see covered next?

Credits
Research: Chris Das Neves
Writing: Invicta
Narration: Guy Michaels
Artwork: Penta Limited
Editing: Penta Limited

Sources and Suggested Reading
The Roman Army by Adrian Goldsworthy
Roman Warfare by Adrian Goldsworthy
Intelligence Activities in Ancient Rome by Rose Mary Sheldon
Exploratio: Military & Political Intelligence in the Roman World from the Second Punic War to the Battle of Adrianople By N. J. E. Austin, N. B. Rankov
Spies and spying in Caesar’s “Bellum Gallicum” by Jane Crawford
The "Missing Dimension" of C. Julius Caesar by Amiram Ezov
The Scouts of the Late Roman Army and a Disputed Etymology by Philip Rance

#UnitsOfHistory
#Rome
#Scouts

[Fonblockland]

Your reports could basically be life or death for an entire army

so yeah, no pressure lmao

[aldosigmann]

The scouts took the day off at the Battle of Lake Trasimene...

[ktheterkuceder]

Good to see scouts getting some re ognition. All we hear is about romans is either how great their engineering was, admirable their discipline was, or how shit their cavalry was. Not to mention politics of course.

[InvictaHistory]

Super excited to branch out into non-fighting units of history which were just as important to victory! What units of history should we cover next?

[Suppiluliuma_]

Can you made video about....

Auxillia Palatinae Guard, The Successor and the most loyal Guard in Roman History.

[usernamesareoverrated]

Last time i was this early there was no salt in Carthage

[matthewsmith]

I feel like the story of a unit of Roman scouts deep in enemy territory would make an incredible period piece movie

[jasonroberts]

I loved being a scout for 10 years. Not alot has changed even with all the technology. Most people have no idea scouts still exist and/or have no idea what we do. Thx for the video

[jameshickok]

Last time I was this early Cro-Magnon government issued a patent for fire.

[kahlilg]

The scouts took their paid sick leave day at lake Trasimene...

[ferrjuan]

The scouts were on vacation during the battle of Adrianople

[ktheterkuceder]

Next: nubian archers and mongol kheshigs.

[nsahandler]

>Screened for skills and experience

After years of Roman study I can firmly state that this line can be translated to "wealthy enough to have your own horse and educated enough to take notes but not wealthy enough to carry heavy armor nor too important to lose in the field"

[totodilesquad]

I think it's really fascinating that such a vital role of the army was filled by common soldiers, auxiliaries even. The top of the command structure and other key positions were usually filled by aristocrats, and yet here we see ordinary men advise aristocrats on what path to take. This just proves once more that the success of a campaign depended less on the high-ranking politicians than they would have liked everyone to believe. I find it surprising though that the procursatores and exploratores were seemingly chosen at random and were not a distinct, elite unit. I mean sure, the video mentions that there were some characteristics procursatores and explorates had to possess and were selected for, but I still wonder how accurately they could relay the information. Did they even know how much water and food the army consumed each day, so that they wouldn't accidentally recommend a path where the logistics failed and the army started to suffer from attrition?
A really interesting video for sure, can't wait for the next one! Keep up the great work :)

[itfc.eli.]

I learned something new thanks. And also a tortoise approves of this video

[akernis]

I *loved* this episode. This like logistics, reconnaissance, and other non-combat parts of an army's life is quite scarce in this kind of videos and I always deeply appreciate learning more about it.
And this one was excellently researched and narrated. I learned a lot I had no idea about.

[m.meiburger]

Exploratores were true survivalists, imagine in times of alexander, this type of troop conquererd the enemy desert long befor the main body of the army .

[alexandrejosedacostaneto]

This word, Exploradores, is still used in Portuguese. It literally means "explorers". In 2 thousand years the only change to the word was that the "T" became a "D"

[atzuras]

The Dacian leader was pronounced "Dekébalus" meaning Strong as 10 men. not "Decabúlus"

[liviubostan]

Logistics and information wins the war
-Probably someone smart.